Rules for Puppies! (dogs too)

This page will be the beginning of my series of lessons on 'Rules for Puppies'.

One of the questions new puppy owners ask the most is how do I get the puppy to stop doing something like chewing, biting on skin or clothing, jumping up on people or the like. These are most important things for a puppy to start learning early in most homes.

Reasons puppies shouldn't jump on people, this seems obvious to most but some people don't think it is important to worry about this when puppies are small. It is, however, easier to teach this when they are small and safer as well.

1. Puppies are learning respect at this age and should learn that jumping up on you is not considered respectful and that it will not bring attention. A puppy/dog that repeatedly jumps on people without being invited is not being respectful of the person he is jumping on and dogs should always be respectful of humans, for the dog's benefit as well as the human's.
2. Puppies/dogs can knock over small children and weak adults. Serious injuries can result and this can be very scary for small people and even some adults.
3. Puppies/dogs can soil or tear our clothing and this can cause us to be late for work or church or simply be expensive if the clothing is ruined and has to be replaced!
4. Another reason for a dog not to be allowed to jump on a person is that a dog percieves this as weakness in a human to allow him to do this and it makes the dog feel less secure if his human does not show leadership. Dogs instinctively know that there needs to be a leader and if we are weak then they become insecure and will often try to fill that void by behaving in a dominant manner. He doesn't do this because he WANTS to be in charge but that he knows that someone has to be in charge and if his human isn't then he will figure it's his job.

I am sure that I could find more reasons but these are enough for the purposes of this discussion. Remember I am not making a distinction between a small dog or a big dog. The larger dogs can cause more damage but it is equally important for dogs of all sizes to learn to respect the space of the humans around them.

Here are the basic rules for teaching a dog not to jump on people, this will work best if the dog is not overly excited in the first place but it WILL work no matter what IF you do it correctly UNTIL he figures it out. Most people give up too soon. You might find that if you had just done it one or two more times then the dog would have gotten the drift. If it takes ten times or more then that's how many times you do it.

1. If a puppy jumps on your leg when you are standing. Turn your body away from them, fold your arms. Don't talk to the dog, don't give him eye contact and don't wiggle around to try to get away. Remember, be perfectly still and quiet!!! NO TALKING during this exercise. You are trying to get HIM to figure it out for himself, don't underestimate your dog. This is the way dogs learn.
2. The moment the puppy puts all four feet on the ground ( I call this four on the floor), reach down calmly and pet your dog, talk softly. Often a dog will immediately start jumping again when you do this so just repeat the first step.
3. When I say repeat the step, I mean over and over and over until the dog stops trying to jump up on you when you reach down to pet him.

Keep this in mind when doing an exercise like this: The first part does not work without the second part. If you are not giving your dog a reward (that is, information explaining that you like what he is doing) then you are only doing a part of the lesson and it will not work nearly as well if at all!!!! The third part is also very important. If you give up too soon, how can you expect the dog to "get" the lesson!


Teaching your dog not to chew on furniture (or anything else that is not to be chewed on for that matter).

This lesson requires the same three parts:

1.) The information about what you don't want

2.) The information about when he has done what you want.

3.) Persistence to the point of understanding or at least relenting.

So here is how it usually goes:

1. The puppy lies down near the chair leg and starts to put his mouth, tongue, teeth or even sniff the chair leg. Your reaction is to say Huh, Huh, in a firm voice. If you have a soft voice you might even want to clap your hands but don't scare the poor guy to death!
2. At the moment the little dear turns his head away from the chair leg, tell him 'good boy!' This gives him the information that you like what he did just at that moment. Some people think this is rewarding him for chewing on the chair but that couldn't be further from the truth. Remember, he doesn't KNOW that the chair leg is off limits, you are trying to give him that information and reward him when he does what you ask.
3. Always watch the puppy when he is loose and not in his crate so that you can be ready to give him information that will teach him how YOU want him to behave in the world. I always keep healthy treats at hand when I am training a puppy but if you don't have them handy a good petting will do in a pinch. Don't forget the reward. When you say "huh, huh!", it will startle him at first but before long he will realize that you are giving him really good information about the way we do things in this house.
4. Repeat, repeat, repeat. There is only one way to teach puppies or learn math or music, repeat, repeat, repeat!

Be patient, it's not fair to be angry at a puppy for something he doesn't understand. The next lesson will be on calling your dog to come to you reliably.

Happy dog training!
Mary